House to Home - Ideas for Your New Place

The keys are yours!  You’ve gone through the process... the searching, deciding, inspection, stress, closing and finally, the elation of buying a new home.  Now, you have to make it your own. Here’s how.  Whether you are moving into something new, or just want a fresh look for your existing place - here are some great tips, ideas and sage advice on making a house a home.

“Pick one room and make it yours. Go slowly through the house. Be polite, introduce yourself so it can introduce itself to you.”

— Frances Mayer - Under the Tuscan Sun

Color -  Paint is the least expensive, easiest way to update a space.  It can individualize a room and put your personal stamp on your home. Pick your color style - From calming nature-inspired neutrals, clean, fresh whites, to bold and fun retro colors, whatever you have in mind for your style, color can showcase it.  And color doesn’t have to be just on the walls - If you want to keep the wall color simple, infuse color with your furniture, art or accessory choices.  Get your craft on by painting a piece of furniture, or recover your dining chairs seats with new fabric.  Try trending wallpaper on a single accent wall or power room. Create a signature look with a statement making - front door color. With color, the change is quick, easy and is all you.

Benjamin Moore Aegean Teal Blue Door (Photo: Benjamin Moore)

BOLD WALLPAPER

CREATE A STATEMENT WITH SOME FUN AND FUNKY WALLPAPER. PEEL AND STICK MAKES IT EASY

SHOP

ORGANIZE YOUR PAINT

WITH THIS GREAT PAINT COLOR ORGANIZER

SHOP

Your Favorite Things -  This is your chance to create a space that reflects your unique style. Home should hold your beautiful art, furniture, passed down family treasures and loved flowers in your garden beds.  Simple daily rituals with favorite things, cozy slippers slipped on at the end of day,  or tossing your keys into that old bowl, will infuse you into the home.  It could be something new that defines your new chapter of home - that perfect comfy sofa you spied, a fresh new style that you’ve wanted to try out, fun new pillows to add a splash to a patio set. By incorporating these favorite things - you’ll become instantly grounded in your new space.

KEY BOWL

PERFECT FOR YOUR FOYER OR COUNTER TOP TO TOSS YOUR KEYS AND MAIL IN

SHOP

Make Your Bed!  A bed is your personal haven and cocoon.  Dressing your bed makes your home environment feel luxurious.  Even if the bedroom still has boxes, you can sleep well with a beautifully made bed. It can boost your mood. Making your bed is a simple task that can have a big impact on your mood. Studies have shown that people who make their beds are more likely to feel happy and positive. Make your bed so that every time you see it, you want to jump into it.  I like to mix old with new. New, fresh, very fancy (the best you can afford) sheets, a stylish linen duvet set slipped over your old favorite down comforter and pillows. Pair the bedding with Grandma’s quilt or your favorite throw at the end of the bed and you'll be ready for a great night's sleep.

LINEN DUVET SET

SOFT, BEAUTIFUL AND EASY TO CREATE A GREAT SPACE

SHOP

Room to Room - This is where you channel Frances Mayer, the character from the book/movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" - by going room to room to make it yours. When you first move in, take some time to spend in each room. This will help you get a feel for the space and start to envision how you want to use it. Don’t try to tackle the entire home’s decorating and styling needs, instead, try to work on the spaces you spend the most time in first.

5 Senses - Nothing says home more than seeing, smelling, hearing, tasting, and feeling your favorite things at home. Put out those family photos, beloved books, play music, light some candles in your favorite scent, open your favorite wine and curl up on that fluffy sofa and celebrate home! 

Your home should be a place where you can relax and escape from the stresses of everyday life. Make sure it's a space that you love spending time in. With a little effort, you can easily make your new house feel like home. So take some time to get settled in, add your personal touch, and start creating memories in your new space. - Julea

Need HELP? From move-in services to one day room makeovers, I’m a call away 708.448.7500 Julea@Julea.com

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The Heritage Home Design Trend

Everything Old is New Again

It’s best to call it a NEW trend, especially for the younger generation home dwellers who abhor all décor of their parent’s abode.  We’ve seen home trending whiffs of a collective Grandmother direction worded as “Granny Chic” “Granny Millennium” and last summer’s “Coastal Grandmother” (brought on perhaps by watching too many newly discovered Nancy Meyers’ movies during the pandemic?). In any case the buzz worthy 2023 home interior design and styling trend has been coined “The Heritage Home”

The Heritage Home

My interpretation of this home styling trend means that old is finally and refreshingly OK, passed down is cool, and mixing old and new creates individuality. Mix + match is the trend, pairing your functional clean lined current furnishings with passed down and vintage. This combination results in a home that doesn’t look like this month’s home décor aisle at your favorite big box retail store - but one that’s style looks like has been curated and patiently collected for years. 

Items that may have been tucked away for years can be showcased, garage sale finds layered and celebrated in a new, fresh way and favorite pieces refreshed with a new coat of paint or fabric. The trend stems in pairing them with your present-day pieces to create a space that looks curated and developed and totally uniquely your own.

An accent table can be the perfect surface to showcase your vintage finds. (Photo: Reinventing Space)

Paint company Krylon chose their 2023 Color of the Year ( #COTY) Spanish Moss by this trend saying “The heritage trend style is increasingly growing in popularity - the comfort and reassurance found in the past. The color is seen in upcycle, recycled, vintage and antique furnishings and it inspires D-I-Yers to create inviting spaces full of comforting personal choices - ..offering a dose of nostalgia and familiarity at the same time.”

Reinvent an old tea/cocktail cart into something new and fresh for your home by giving it a makeover. The piece can be that infused celebration of “old + new.”

Krylon 2023 Color of the Year Spanish Moss ( photo: Krylon)

I like the phrase “full of comforting personal choices”.  If we’ve learned one thing about the past three years it’s that home IS truly our shelter from the storm.  It’s no wonder that our past down treasures and quirky vintage finds now find a special place in our home, and the need to refresh what we already have is our new home design mantra for 2023. 

Create a comfortable space filled with old and new (Photo: Reinventing Space)

The trend celebrates and embraces a home’s architecture and esthetics too - meaning not erasing the heritage of a home’s build era, but instead following its guidance to include the history and flavor of the home’s ambiance. Flippers are you listening?

Quirky Embraced

Your home’s bones should be embrace and celebrated. (Photo: Reinventing Space)

Pinterest calls it Hipstoric

Pinterest brands the trend “Hipstoric” and according to their data - “in 2023, people will find new ways to honor old stuff in their homes. Got a hand-me-down handy? These searches are helping people combine vintage—often inherited—pieces with their modern styles. Thanks to the Boomers and Gen X driving these trends, antiques have never looked so chic.”

High trending searches on Pinterest:

Eclectic interior design vintage+850%

Mixing modern and antique furniture+530%

Antique windows repurposed+50%

Maximalist decor vintage+350%

Mix + Match style with layers of personality. Furniture, pattern, eras, magically melded to create a one-of-kind space. From floral wallpapers, lush velvets, to repurposed vintage finds revitalized with peel and stick paper.

Drew Barrymore for Walmart (Photo: Walmart)

The English Home

Across the pond, and always a jump ahead, this trend has been in full  embraced in 2020 -

“As the latest spring home décor collections preview at London Design Week (LDW) 2020, it’s clear that heritage design principles continue to influence the work of today’s leading interior designers.

Whilst new design ideas offer innovative inspiration to those updating their homes, they also incorporate style from the past – bringing colour palettes and patterns back from the archives. Interior experts are guided by time‐honoured techniques and architectural features, too, celebrating the importance of skill and craftsmanship in home décor.” - The English Home

Home Entertaining + Celebrations

82% of consumers surveyed said they plan on entertaining at home as much or more than 2022 (International Housewares Association) 

Heritage Trend - Traditional dinner entertaining (Photo: Pottery Barn)

Scroll through any online home furniture/lifestyle retailer and you’ll find the Tabletop/Entertaining tab is chocked full of product and explained inspiration.  Home entertaining and daily traditional home rituals seem to be très chic, from afternoon tea in lovely antique cups, to sit down dinner parties with friends. Perhaps there is still hope for us Boomers to pass down generational China sets and silver serving ware!

As an Interior Stylist I straddle two worlds - I consult home dwellers how to fully embrace, personalize and celebrate their home, and home sellers who want to prepare their space for a new family by removing that personalized stamp.  The 2023 Heritage Trend can be fully embraced by both dwellers and sellers.

• Mix + Match -  Erase the idea that you need a matching “suite” of furnishings. Create a room that incorporates many styles and eras.

• Repurpose and Reinvent - Have a passed down or well loved piece?  Don’t be fearful of reinventing it with a coat of paint or new fabric. 

• Consider traditional updates to a home. Celebrate the bones of your home. Instead of erasing the past, embrace it.  From lighting  architectural elements, to color palette - consider following a guide to the past to update.

• Maximalist or Minimalist, all are welcome with this trend and can work to both’s advantage

• Curate collections and passed down heritage - whether in a bookcase vignette or as your daily dinnerware, personalized and individual are key ingredients.

• Infuse old and new -  Daily function always trumps fussy, the goal is a space that looks like it has been layered over the years.

In conclusion - Shop your home and unearth passed down and forgotten treasures. Repurpose and reinvent them if you want to put your fingerprint on them. Consider adding some traditional and old design styles into your home whether with color, fabric, wallpaper or architectural elements. Create a home that celebrates its heritage, your own heritage and create a space that is individually yours.

- Julea

Can’t figure out how to pull your it all together? My business model is based on using what you have 1st before buying new. I’m happy to help you create a curated home whether in person or on-line. Call or text me at 708-543-8597.

Reference Links:
(https://www.homeaccentstoday.com/trends/mother-nature-inspires-2023-colors-of-the-year/)

(https://business.pinterest.com/en-us/pinterest-predicts/2023/hipstoric-home/)

(https://www.theenglishhome.co.uk/the-top-5-heritage-design-elements-for-elegant-homes/

Building Block Home Decorating Accessories You Need!

Whether you live small or large, this accessory collection can seamless change from decorating to entertaining in an instant. Use my "Good Bone" accessories as your base template for styling your home. Each can be used in multiple ways, be changed out quickly space to space, for a season or the holidays. These accessories too can make you a bit more organized, and when entertaining - some, can be staples and service any of your hosting areas from bar to buffet. Win, win.

(** Heads-up, if you’d like to shop my collections, the links are in the item and the picture - I’m part of the Amazon Influencer program and receive a small commission of sold items.)** Link to entire collection - LINK

JULEA’S LIST OF BUILDING BLOCK HOME ACCESSORIES

TALL CANDLESTICKS: A set of tall candlesticks elevate your styling whether topped with candles or any scale friendly object you want to display. Their height is the key ingredient to great accessorizing - Always perfect for a mantle, but also should be considered on a coffee table, kitchen island, or even in a bookcase. For entertaining, add a plate (use poster tack putty) and your buffet or bar will be elevated to new heights.

DOUGH BOWL - The perfect decorating vessel. Rustic, organic, Farmhouse style, with just the right ‘opposites attract’ interior design element that any room needs. Fill it with whatever you please, from holiday greens for the season to faux succulents as a centerpiece. Line it with cloth napkins and for entertaining - it’s the best baguette holder for your dinner party.

LARGE BLANKET BASKET - A large blanket basket can service besides blankets, entry shoes, seasonal wear, kids/dog toys, a statement in-door plant, towels, laundry. Too, it brings texture to a space, and its lovely form offers a pretty visual for a storage piece.

LONG WICKER TRAY - A nice long wicker tray adds casualness and texture to a surface. Great topped on a granite island, your dining room table or to house personal items on a bathroom counter or nightstand. A tray too offers a template to decorate in. For entertaining, pop in a long platter or bowls with your favorite sides, or use for serve items such as napkins, silverware, plates, or more.

WIRED CLOCHE - Bring the outside in with a wire cloche. Casual, unbreakable, and easy to use and store. Anything under a dome becomes more important and adds an element of surprise to your accessorizing.

CAKE STAND - A cake stand can hold more than cakes - as a decorating element, it can be the needed centerpiece element to an arrangement. Alone, or with an added plate, the stand can make something simple stand out and up. Add to the cake stand with the above cloche and you have real WOW factor decorating accessory!

NATURAL ABOLONE SHELL - I know it sounds a bit weird that a shell would make my ‘must have’ list. But I stand by my shell. This pretty, small, vessel can be a lovely natural addition to a side table or a vignette on your coffee table. Perfect in a Powder Room with a bar of soap, wrapped candies, on your kitchen windowsill to hold your rings, or a spoon rest when entertaining or as a salt cellar. It too can sit alone on a bookcase or in a cubby. I found mine while walking on a beach in Half Moon Bay, CA, so besides being functional, it holds a special memory.

WINE/CHAMPAGNE BUCKET - Iconic shape, better than a bowl, Can house ice to a tabletop Christmas Tree. What’s not to love about an oversize wine bucket? On your dining room table as a centerpiece, in your foyer with floral arrangement, on your coffee table with magazines and books. You know what to do with it for entertaining…

SILVER TRAY - Anything silver adds panache, especially a tray. In baths to entry tables - this fancy tray makes anything on it, special and upscale.

FAUX BOOKS - Faux books are a favorite for any home stylist. An added element horizontally, or vertical, they add dimension to any display.

FOOTED HURRICANE VASE - A workhorse accessory. A footed hurricane vase can be your standard decorating element in one spot. It can change each month with fresh flowers, change seasonally or with a holiday. It can be flipped over and used as a candle stand, or as a lift for a buffet with an added plate, bowl or platter. In a bathroom with bath salts, washcloths or kid’s toys, in the kitchen as a terrarium or water garden, and in the laundry with laundry care products.

RECHARGEABLE ELECTRIC CANDLES - Oh happy day! No more batteries. Candles add that ambiance and the 5 sense element needed in a space. These offer a timer, and a remote for ease of use, and then when spent, you just recharge them. We all know where to use them, and if you need direction, see above list. One added idea, since they come in a trio, consider ribboning them together as 1 cluster.

I hope you were inspired to weed through your current accessories, perhaps shop for some new ones, and use these great building block accessories in creative ways. Please share if you use one of these accessories in an different way, we’d love to know!

Stay tuned for a new collection - HOME STYLING or STAGING TOOL KIT FAVORITES. Staples and tools that I have in my tool bag when I head to interior style and home stage a home. - JULEA.

Everything Old is New Again - Home Styling Makeovers

From paint company trend forecasts, to our favorite home décor magazines - the new decorating tune is "Everything old is new again."  With décor buzz words such as coastal grandmother, maximalist, cottage core, heritage, artisan, and the ever present farmhouse style - It's time to take a new look at our old stuff!   

Heirloom Design Trend and Color Palette (Photo: Benjamin Moore)

It's so yesterday to announce that your home is filled with all brand new.  Open any home magazine today and there is feature after feature about repurposing furniture, shopping flea markets and decorating with vintage finds.  Wouldn't it be refreshing not to have to run to retail to solve your decorating dilemmas?

What if you could get a new room using the stuff you already have?  

You can!

Welcome to a new era of interior decorating and design for the times. 

“Gone are the days when a fancy suited designer would sweep into your home declaring, “Darling - Everything must go!”  All new is now a ‘No-No’. ”

— Julea Joseph

In these belt tightening, environmentally conscious times;  team Reinventing Space are home styling wunderkinds that sweep through your home and within a day, reposition, re-hang and redisplay your furniture, art and accessories. Stylishly arranging your space with a pizazz and a wow factor worthy of a magazine cover and hunting your home to see what treasures you've squirreled away that can be displayed.  Accessories, furniture and other finds that you just didn't know what to do with, may end up as the fabulous finishing touch to a perfect new room!    

One Day Home Styling - Living Room Makeover (Photo: Reinventing Space)

 And our talents aren't sequestered to arranging your stuff;  we are all about up cycling and reinventing your wares. We informatively suggest how your beloved, comfy, but tired sofa would be a wonder with a new fabric wardrobe and some upholsterer’s love, how to turn that unused old TV armoire into a bar, or with a new hue, that old chest of drawers from Aunt Milly would be showstopper for your foyer. We are pros, clever and creative.  After the room makeover we leave you a "let's chat list" with more ideas, items to further complete the space, or pieces that may have seen better days.

Loved sofa reinvention. Home reupholster (Photo: Reinventing Space)

Why a Home Styling Makeover  is a must for your space now. 

• Money - Since the concept of a home styling makeover is based on us­ing what you already own, there is an immediate savings.  Because there are so many variables, fees are based on your specific scope of work, but most makeovers cost less than what you would pay for a single piece of new furniture.

• Time - The makeover typically takes between three and seven hours, whereas conventional redecoration methods can take weeks of making selections, ordering and then waiting for delivery of your new furnishings. When you have a room makeover performed, plan on entertaining your friends and family the very same evening in your fabulous "new" home!

• Comfort-In addition to the pleasure of being surrounded by familiar objects that you know and love, gone is the anxiety that comes from purchasing "NEW" and wondering if it will "WORK" once you get it home (or ever get it delivered with COVID induced logistical issues)  Your past purchases have been validated, your collections beautifully displayed and your heirlooms celebrated. We artfully transform your belongings into a picture perfect setting, instantly.

• What if my furnishings don't match, can I still have a great looking home? -Absolutely! Whether it's a certain element of color or style, there is generally a com­mon thread that runs through every home. The advantage of a room makeover is having a trained and objective eye to pull it together. Once your furnishings have been properly placed and accessorized, you will once again fall in love with all your wonderful choices!

• Am I Ready for a room makeover day? - We begin with our complimentary virtual evaluation. .  We’ll discuss your goals, priorities and challenges for your rooms.  After a tour of your home,  we’ll quote you a per room price for the makeover and schedule a date for the Home Styling Makeover.

So, if you're ready to make your home your own, celebrate what you already have, finally pull together your rooms, and have a space that is a one-of-a-kind - Call/Text us today 708-543-8597 or pop us an email at Julea@Julea.com

Spring Things you Can do to Your Home

Well it may be snowing in Chicago today, but spring is definitely here. The Easter holiday is behind us, and if you are wondering how to refresh and restyle your home with more than just bunnies and dyed eggs - this post if for you.

The great thing about living in the Midwest is that we get to reinvent our home’s space four times a year as the seasons change. As my design mantra goes “If you change up your home, it changes up you too”. So what spring things can we do to our home?

TRY A NEW ROOM ARRANGEMENT

Give a space a new look with interior arrangement. The sun changes positions seasonally, and your Sunday reading spot that was perfect in winter now is unbearably sunny without the blinds closed. The fireplace that was your cozy cure for the blustery weather, now sits fireless as spring temperatures rise. Try repositioning that chair to a new spot. That move creates a whole new look for your favorite chair and creates the spark for a new room setting. And rather than cozying up to the fireplace - with a bit of furniture moving, you could instead have a window view of birds nesting and flowers blooming. This will give you a new daily respite to sooth your soul.

FURNITURE SWAP FROM OTHER ROOMS

The design police will not shun you if you find that your dining room hutch that houses Granny’s dusty China works much better as a bookcase or crafts storage hutch in your office. Or the kid’s dresser is the ideal entry piece for that empty wall in your foyer. Be fearless by understanding furniture can be moved and have more than one purpose.

LOOK AT YOUR ACCESSORIES IN A NEW LIGHT

My whole business is based on using what you already have, and I can tell you that after 23 years, you have plenty of accessories. Did you know the average home has 300,000 things in it? Rather than thinking you need to buy new to refresh, think how you can celebrate what is already there.

• A lamp can be up-styled by just changing out its shade. Too, by reducing or increasing the harp size (the thing that you put the shade on) you can try a new shade size.

• Rotate your art. Create a collection with a few pieces on your mantle (hang one, lean the others) or on your hall walls, Use an easel and display small art pieces on a table, in a bookcase, or just lean them as a back drop.

• Art, as well as trays, bowls, vases can be archived, and rotated in or out for the season to bring color, mood, or seasonal spirit to a space. And of course you can reinvent them. Head over to YouTube or Pinterest and be tutored on reimagining old accessories (there are a zillion options).

DO SOMETHING BIG

When I mean big, I don’t mean buy a whole new house big, I mean do something that makes a more permanent change. Paint an accent wall, your pantry door, or a piece of furniture. Wallpaper your foyer, the inside of your China hutch or the front of the drawers of a dresser. Reupholster that Sunday reading chair in your new favorite color (hopefully tangerine). These changes are a bit more permanent, but aren’t too costly, but will bring a big change to the way your home feels.

BRING THE OUTSIDE IN

The best part of spring is that everything seems shiny and new. Snip budding branches and pop them into some of your favorite large floor vases. A container of a spring flowers cheers up any counter or table. Swap out the pinecones in your display bowls for bright green moss covered balls, sport a newly made table terrarium or pop a potted plant under a cloche to celebrate the growing season. Raid your bookcases for all your gardening books for a new display collection on your living room’s coffee table.

With these changes you’ll renew your home’s feeling, create new spaces to celebrate, and enjoy the new season both inside and out.

Need expert and creative advice to shake up your spaces? Want to leave and come home to a whole new space in a day using just what you already have? We do that. Call/Text 708-543-8597 to learn more.

• Julea

Accessorizing Your Home Workshop Elmhurst Public Library 12/6 7pm

Quick and Easy Accessorizing /Decorating Workshop

Put your own personal stamp on your space with help from interior stylist Julea Joseph. Learn the essential elements every room needs, plus get tips and tricks for shopping for great pieces, breathing new life into your existing treasures, and pulling them all together.

Join Julea @ Elmhurst Public Library for this interior design workshop. To register for this program: 125 S. Prospect Avenue, Elmhurst, IL 60126. Phone: (630) 279-8696 Text: (331) 642-0375.

This is a hybrid workshop - both in-person (limited seating) and via Zoom

-Julea